


Pythian Apollo

by kaitlia777



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Episode Fix-it, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 20:17:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9842204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaitlia777/pseuds/kaitlia777
Summary: I always though it odd that the Arrow of Apollo was never held by Apollo





	

Standing in the small clearing, facing the seemingly solid wall that, according to a Cylon, would allow them entrance to the Tomb of Athena, Laura Roslin took a moment to breathe. The air was still damp from recent rains , arefreshing change after two months of nothing but reprocessed air aboard the ships.

When she opened her eyes, taking in the vibrant greens of the foliage, the way the natural light plate across the features of the men and women standing with her, faces grown so familiar since the attacks, she found herself drawn to the young man and woman inspecting the rock wall. Lieutenant Kara Thrace was slowly waving the Arrow of Apollo over the slab, hoping it would do… something. Beside her, Captain Lee Adama, Laura's advisor, was methodically prodding the wall with his bare hands.

For a brief moment, Laura allowed her focus to drift. Kobol suited her young captain, as did the shadow of dark scruff beginning to appear along his jaw line. Somehow, it made his already fair skin look like marble and his stunning blue eyes became even more arresting.

Really, he was unfairly lovely.

"Stupid frakin' thing couldn't come with a handbook?" Kara snapped, frustrated by the rock's failure to react to the arrow. "No, because that would be too logical, wouldn't it."

Gripping the scrolls of Pythia closer, Laura read from a bloodied page. "And the Arrow of Apollo will open the Tomb of Athena."

"Yeah, well, unless anyone sees a keyhole or whatever, we're either in the wrong place or we're perfectly screwed," Kara replied sarcastically, turning to face the group and swinging her arms in a wide arc. The Arrow slapped against Lee's chest and, reflexively, he raised his hands, accepting the relic from his fellow pilot.

Clearly, Commander William Adama shared Kara's impatience. Making a decision, he said, "Then why don't we just, ah, Helo, come…."

"Wait," Laura said, holding up a hand in taking a short step forward. Her eyes were again on Lee, who was holding the Arrow, a most peculiar expression on his face. "Lee, are you all right?"

He gave himself a shake, long, almost absurdly delicate fingers clenching around the relic. "Yeah…I just…."

Without finishing, Lee took several steps to his right and scraped at a patch of moss, peeling away with short, once nails. Once he'd bared a small section of rock, he took a breath and pressed the Arrow to it.

Nothing happened.

"That's a bit of a…." Kara began, but she stopped when Lee placed a palm against the wall he'd earlier inspected and, with a shriek of rock against rock, the slab rolled aside.

Their party stood there for a moment, gaping into the dark cavern before Tyrol spoke in a hushed tone. "The Arrow of Apollo."

Lee stiffened slightly and Laura knew he wasn't entirely comfortable with anything involving prophecies or the Gods. Still, it was undeniable that the Arrow had responded in his, Captain Apollo's, hands.

No one seemed to know what to say and Kara finally drawled, "So, who was it that gave you your call sign, hmmm?"

Turning to face her, Lee scowled, but Adama rumbled, "There's time for that later. Helo, stay out. Chief, guard everybody."

Leaving Tyrol to guard Zarek, Sharon and Helo, Laura entered the Tomb with Lee, Commander Adama, Billy and Kara. The entrance opened into a rather large cavern, one with pedestals and crumbled statues surrounding an expanse of empty floor.

After a moment, Kara gasped. "These broken statues, I recognize them. The ram, Aerilon. Gemenon, the twins, these are the icons of the 12 tribes, the 12 colonies. This is where it all began. We all came from this place."

Spreading out, the five of them inspected the remains of marble. "This could be Picon, the fish," Billy said, young voice echoing in the room.

"I guess this little lady could be Virgon," Lee mused from where he stood by the mostly intact statue of a young woman.

As Adama just stared, Kara murmured, "The goat, Caprica."

"Sagittaron, the archer," Laura breathed as she drew close to mostly intact statue.

Stepping toward her, Adama intoned, "He's missing something."

The statue was indeed without an arrow.

Again, eyes turned towards Lee, who was still holding the Arrow. Without comment, he crossed the room and extended his hands toward the icon. They were all startled when the relic seemed to leap the last inch from his fingers to the statues bow.

To everyone's surprise, the cavern door slammed closed , throwing them into darkness . Then they were enveloped in a blinding white light that, as it faded, left them standing in a dark field. Adama, Lee and Kara swung their weapons to ready, prepared for attack, but none came.

They were alone, surrounded by 12 pillars, each bearing a glowing symbol. "Where the hell are we?" Billy asked, taking an awkward step through the tall grass.

"I don't know," Laura responded slowly, staring at the glowing symbols as a possibility formed in her mind. "Tomb of Athena, I think."

"I thought we were already in the Tomb," Adama said in disbelief, which prompted Kara to reply, "I think that was the lobby."

In the sky above each pillar, the stars echoed the symbols they bore . "Again the ancient symbols," Laura said, working an idea over in her head. "These patterns were on the original flags of the 12 colonies, back in the days when the colonies were called by their ancient names. Aires, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Libra, Virgo."

Adama was catching on. "The jewels match the constellations."

"This is the map," Lee said, shifting in the grass. "This is the map to Earth."

"Maybe," his father replied. "So was Earth in one of these constellations?"

It was Kara who made the final connection. "We're standing on it," she breathed reverently. "We are standing on Earth. The Scriptures say that when the 13th tribe landed on Earth, they looked up into the heavens and they saw their 12 brothers."

"Earth is the place where you can look up in the sky and you can see the constellations of the 12 colonies," Laura said, continuing the younger woman's train of thought as they all looked skyward.

"I don't know what good it's gonna do us though," Kara said with a slight shake of her head. "I mean, what are we supposed to do? Search the entire galaxy for one particular star pattern?"

For a moment they were all quiet as her words sank in and they realized how very difficult a task such as that would be.

"There." Lee's voice broke the silence and everyone turned to see him pointing up into the sky. "There in Scorpio. I've seen that before. It's the Lagoon Nebula."

"Astral body M8," Adama rumbled as Laura felt a smile stretch across her face. "That's a long way from here."

"Yeah," Lee agreed and the hope was palpable in his voice. "But at least now we have a map and a direction."

He and Kara let out breathless little laughs as Laura stared up at the beautiful swirling nebula that represented so many possibilities.

When they're ready to leave, it becomes obvious that it will be no simple task. Or at least that's what it seemed until we reach out and closed his hand around nothing. Once again there was a bright flash and they found themselves in darkness, but only for a moment before the cavern door rolled open allowing in natural light.

"Commander, you all right in there?" Tyrrell sounded a bit nervous, which was understandable considering the whole cavern sealing itself thing.

"We're fine," Adama replied, then motioned toward the exit. "We done here?"

Everyone nodded, no one mentioning the arrow once again clamped in Lee's hands. Without comment, Kara handed over the carrying case and he still owed the relic away before slinging it over his shoulder.

At some point, they were going to have to consider what had happened and why. Why had the arrow reacted to Lee and no one else, why was he clearly compelled to act with it?

But for now, there were other things to consider.

* * *

"My father keeps looking at me like he expects me to suddenly start quoting Scripture at him."

Laura looked across her desk at Captain Apollo, who had joined her for tea after escorting her back from his father's unity speech. She had noticed the elder Adama giving his son a few odd looks and she couldn't help but tease him. "Did you know Apollo was the prophetic deity of the Oracle at Delphi?"

He pursed his lips. "With my call sign, I've heard a lot about Apollo over the years."

She nodded. "I know you don't believe, Captain, but you have to admit something happened down on Kobol."

Lee shifted in his seat, eyes darting to the side and even white teeth appearing to worry at his lower lip. Eventually, he spoke. "I can't explain it. When I touched the Arrow, it was like… Something was pulling on me and when we were on Earth, I looked up and I just knew the nebula was going to be there."

She could see how this unexplained phenomenon discomforted him. He was a staunch non-believer if ever there was one. Then again, she hadn't been one for the Gods before she'd begun having visions….

"May I ask about…what Lieutenant Thrace asked down on Kobol? About Apollo?"

His response was a heavy sigh. "It's just a name," he replied, then shrugged. "A friend of my grandfather started calling me Apollo when I was…seven or so. They were having tea and I was reading in the yard when a bird flew into a tree and fell to the ground. I thought it had died and picked it up. It was just stunned though and flew off. Daniel laughed and called me little Apollo, because of the medicine/healing association, and my grandfather picked up on it…then coaches and, by the time I got to flight school, it was already on my helmet. I'm just glad the 'little' part got dropped."

Laura chuckled slightly. "I've done a bit of reading since the dreams started," she confessed, waving a hand at the scrolls and texts that littered her desk. "Do you know much about Lord Apollo?"

"God of the hunt and healing. Sun god…and something to do with laurel leaves," he replied with a shrug, then smiled softly at a memory. "At festivals, my friends would always attack me with laurel wreaths."

The mental image was a nice one. Lee, a little younger and a lot less burdened, standing in the sunlight with crowds of friends, a fresh crown of laurel resting on his dark hair. It was easy to imagine that he'd been a hit with the ladies…even in the drab, utilitarian BDU's or his flightsuit, Laura had seen the way eyes followed him around, admiring and appraising.

"He was also the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle, called Pythian Apollo, and the lord of colonists, the patron defender of herds and flocks," she said, selecting one scroll and pushing it across the desk towards him. He accepted the text with only a little hesitation and she continued, "I just thought you should know, so when the priests start following you around…."

Then he groaned. "My father will love that," he quipped, eyeballing the scroll with great skepticism. "Can't we just not mention anything about the arrow and…whatever that was?"

She would have tried to respect his privacy, but it simply wasn't an option. "Billy says he's already hearing murmurs and he's trying to avoid being cornered by anyone who looks ready to ask a direct question," Laura said.

"You don't seriously think they'd follow me?" he asked, then, to her amusement, pouted when she nodded. "I don't suppose asking them to stay off of Galactica would do any good then?"

"No, Captain," she said regretfully, knowing the young man would not enjoy the scrutiny.

Heaving a sigh, Lee leaned forward, elbows on his knees and bowing his head. With the top half of his flightsuit hanging around his waist, the pale skin of his lovely arms and neck were displayed in the fluorescent cabin light, almost seeming to glow. If she hadn't noticed the effect on previous occasions, she might have thought herself imagining things, allowing herself to place too much stock in the oddness that had happened on the planet.

Yes, Lee was Captain Apollo and the Arrow of Apollo had reacted to him, but he was a man, not a god.

Sitting across from her, he looked particularly human, young and vulnerable, the nape of his neck slightly pink from Kobol's sun.

"An old friend," Lee suddenly said, tipping his head up enough to look at her through the dark fan of his lashes. "When I touched the arrow, it felt like I was seeing a long absent friend. Which is really strange, because, other than during an interminably boring class field trip, I'd never even seen it before."

He clearly did not want to admit that little fact and Laura felt honored by his trust. "I'm still not entirely sure how the mysticism works either, Lee," she said, using his given name. At the moment, though he wasn't quarreling with his father, it seemed right to address him as an individual, without the trappings of family or position. "But I have a feeling we're going to find out…at least some things."

"If all I have to do is open a lock and point at a map, I'll be thrilled," he said, then offered her one of his devastating little smiles. "You've got the more difficult role I suspect."

She doubted that. She was fulfilling the roll of the dying leader. If the priests cast him in the roll of Apollo the he

would be looked to as the protector of the fleet, their guardian. It was a roll he already took on as CAG, but this

would be seen as something more, something predestined.

Laura had already accepted the idea that she would die soon, but Lee would have to live in the shadow of Apollo

long after she was gone.

"Ma'am?" Lee's voice startled her and she realized he'd reached across the desk to lay his hand atop her own. He seemed worried by her lapse into silence.

Smiling sadly at him, she said, "Just lost in thought. I can't really agree that my role will be harder. You'll have to deal with this fall out for years to come and I…"

"I may die in a skirmish tomorrow," Lee pointed out. "Sure, our lives now are more indefinite than they were before the Colonies were attacked, but life has never been certain."

"But the threat is far more immediate now," Laura reasoned, turning her hand under his to grasp at his fingers. "People are turning to faith because there's so little else left…and now, thanks to what happened down on the planet, you are going to be a part of that."

Lee heaved a sigh and looked over to the table where the Arrow of Apollo lay. "I can't deny something happened down there and, though I still have no idea what it was, if it helps us find a safe haven then it's worth it."

"We serve the people," Laura agreed with a nod. Politics or the military, both avocations led to a life of service, of sublimating one's own wishes to the betterment of society.

But for the moment, sitting in her cabin on Colonial One, they were just two people, tired and unsure.

Soon enough, they'd have to face the public.


End file.
